I was up at Northwestern this afternoon to hear some of their second year Masters candidates. For one reason or another there were only nine of them. So I will have to go back for more later. And Jay Lesenger was out of town so I did not have the opportunity of getting some positive thinking done with him. But he is at the beginning of his job there. We will get to grips with the issues in due course. But it was as always a pleasure to see Richard Boldrey, a terrific pianist and coach, and wise experienced counselor to generations of young singers who have passed through his hands ar Northwestern. The auditions were in the usual agreeable Lutkin Hall, seen here in pretty snowy Evanston.
Earlier today we had a Board lunch meeting with a prospective new member - we were wonderfully entertained at the Union League Club by our most enthusiastic Board member bar none who is the essential "clubbable" character. As delightful as one can imagine - and the perfect way to get new members on Board. This is just what we need at this time.
And before I left on the Red line train for Evanston there was a one hour conference call with around 19 other General Directors of American opera companies with budgets of between 3 and 10 million dollars. We are one of those (at the low end). It was a not entirely encouraging exchange of information. But that one would hardly expect if one reads the newspapers and the tea leaves. We are in this together and it is valuable to exchange statistics and experiences. But I think none of us are making the same amount of noise about it as the Metropolitan Opera in the New York Times this morning. That is a gob smacking story. The scale is somewhat alarming I should say! And has it really come out of the blue?
Now for the weekend and that stew I am cooking up for Jane Glover tomorrow evening!
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